when mindfulness becomes meditation

attentive awareness

we've defined mindfulness as the state of awareness which arises through purposefully paying attention, non-judgmentally, in the now. we've discussed how attentive awareness has two sides. on the focus side, our ability to remain attentive increases, and we experience this as a stable or still mind. on the awareness side, the attention can include more and more objects, and the whole field eventually includes sensory experience, breathing-awareness, mental processes, and the quality of attentive awareness. our ability for clarity of awareness also expands, and expresses itself as qualities of openness, calm, and receptivity. the product of this process is mental stillness and insight.

use your senses fully and let the alert stillness within you be the perceiver, rather than your mind.​

Eckhart Tolle​

difficulties and their remedies

the hindrances are the factors or qualities of attention that lead us away from mindfulness. we have sensual desire and anger there, as well as being spaced out. mindfulness is also reduced with restlessness (impulse), or an overly worried mind. finally, there is the doubt that we may feel when our practice does not cut the bar of our idealization or expectation. on the other hand, we also have very powerful mental qualities that are developing. these can be used to bring us back to mindfulness. they include tranquility, curiosity, energy, joy, focus, and equanimity.

hindrances

•  
• sensual desire
• ill-will
• torpor
• restlessness
• doubt

factors of awakening

• mindfulness
• curiosity
• tranquility
• energy
• focus
• joy
• equanimity

when little obstacles crop up on the spiritual path, a good practitioner does not lose faith and begin to doubt, but has the discernment to recognize difficulties, whatever they may be, for what they are — just obstacles, and nothing more. it is the nature of things that when you recognize an obstacle as such, it ceases to be an obstacle. equally, it is by failing to recognize an obstacle for what it is, and therefore taking it seriously, that it is empowered and solidified and becomes a real blockage.​​

Pema Chödrön​

stillness

you will remember that the attention aspect of mindfulness lacks judgment. it is open-hearted, or receptive. this equanimity, or stillness of mind, is crucial to the development of insight. the less we run away from or cling to (identify with) our experience, the better.

between running away from the experience and wanting to fix the experience lies a third option: non-attachment, equanimity, or mental stillness. i can be with my experience, and without what i would prefer to my current experience. the only way we can deepen this ability to perceive reality fully, without attachment, is by increasing the time of consistent practice. we start by bringing stillness to the body. when there are sensory experiences, we simply let them arise and disappear, without trying to fix anything. once the body is still, we’re probably already connected to the senses and the breath-awareness. now we deepen this into mental stillness. bare attention is the best way to induce this stillness. we note our mental processes from a witnessing position (“this is happening,” rather than “i am….”). we notice interpretation and let it go, opening to the experience of the next moment. we also notice the growth of appreciation, acceptance, and the inclusion of more subtle experience.

to maintain this state, we intentionally relax any point of tension in the body, noticing the more subtle feeling-senses. in the same way, we relax thinking or internal chatter, into the stillness of expanded awareness (being).

when repeated difficulties do arise, our first spiritual approach is to acknowledge what is present, naming, softly saying ‘sadness, sadness,’ or ‘remembering, remembering’, or whatever.​​

Jack Kornfield​​

"there is always simplicity..."

to increase the depth of stillness, we notice the moments of naturally dropping into deep peace or equanimity. it is even more clear when we experience sensory or mental pain. although the pain experience is present, mind remains still, and focused. we can allow experience to be what it is, even if what is happening does not conform to our preferences. Shinzen Young — in his Five Ways — points to the healing aspect of stillness (equanimity), when he writes:

(pain + equanimity) + (pleasure + equanimity) = psychospiritual purification

Shinzen Young​​​

when we consciously feel pain or difficulty and nonetheless hold a still mind and clear awareness, we have moved beyond ego, or our self. we are fully present and able to respond most appropriately.

there is always a simplicity about the present moment.

Eckhart Tolle​​​

insight into identification

what does it mean to be identified? when i identify with something, i’m in a state of fixed wanting/not wanting, rather than receptive attention. i want an outcome, and see only the information that alerts me to it being present or not. or i may hold onto painful feelings longer than necessary, identifying with my "badness” or “shame”. this fixation makes the feeling “real.” what was a passing feeling becomes a fixed reality. “i want,” becomes “i cannot be without,” or “i must have," "i am this, but not that,” “i deserve this or that.”

when we live with strong ego, or identification, we feel that we must know things, and it is wrong not to know. it is then such a paradox to discover what Shinzen Young equates as:

(don’t know, confusion, indecision, doubt) + equanimity = intuitive wisdom

Shinzen Young​​​​​​

when we allow ourselves to “not-know,” and be at peace with the experience, we intuitively know what to do or say.

• the more we identify, the more threatened we feel by negative emotion
• psychological defenses come into play to protect us from overwhelm​
• not everyone will agree with your experience, which proves that you are looking through the lens of personality​
• mindfulness makes us more aware of these personality shadow aspects.​

nowness

if we are not aware of our psychological defenses, including projection and identification, we feel that our perception of reality is correct, and that those who see things differently are wrong. we're identified with our personality, and unaware of its shadow. in Zen meditation, or zazen, we are reminded that our unconscious thoughts and beliefs are lies that prohibit direct perception (bare attention). our thinking, identification, and beliefs add to reality, thus distorting it. we can become aware of these additions. the first lie is the past, or memory. when we remember an experience, it is not the experience itself, but our interpretation of what happened. we were not aware that our mind focused on certain information, and not on other information. also, we're not experiencing it now, which means we're not in our current experience, but clouding it with memory.

the second lie is any future thought, including hope, imagination, and expectation. if you are older than 40, you probably already know that our expectations seldom come true. they are projections of our egoic needs into the future, and reality is much too complex for such linear causality. the room in the picture is seldom the one that greets you on your holiday. our experiences seldom match our dreams. as with memory, we’re not in the here and now, because we’re in a dreamed future moment.

the third lie is probably the most difficult to realize, as you would have to be quite self-aware and mindful to do so. it is the lie of thought in this very moment. your personal thought is the personality lens through which you make sense of the world and relate with it. that personality has too many blind spots, unconscious dynamics, exclusive focal points, and defenses to report reality with much accuracy. it is, again, your interpretation of reality. the closest we can come to truth in our everyday life is bare attention. and meditation takes this deeper.

mindfulness, which includes tenderness and kindness toward ourselves, restores dimensions of our being. these have never actually been missing, just that we have been missing them, we have been absorbed elsewhere. when your mind clarifies and opens, your heart also clarifies and opens.​

Jack Kornfield​​​​

how is meditation different

the method for mindfulness and meditation is the same. both are based on bare attention and the four foundations (spheres) of mindfulness. however, in our modern world, we can say their purposes are different. whereas mindfulness provides us with greater skillfulness in daily interaction, it is less effective than meditation in removing identification. meditation is a continuation of mindfulness, and has the purpose of removing identification and broadening perspective. mindfulness harnesses the power of attention, and meditation shows us our true nature. mindfulness enriches meditation, which deepens mindfulness.

in everyday mindfulness practice we are attentive (the focus or object of attention) and aware (we know what is attended to). in meditation we move more deeply into stillness, and our capacity for insight increases. it is easier to recognize our identifications with extended practice. meditation also takes us into the healing capacities of mindful meditation. meditation is to a wounded mind what sleep is to a tired body. it restores.

everything can be used as an invitation to meditation. a smile, a face in the subway, the sight of a small flower growing in the crack of cement pavement, a fall of rich cloth in a shop window, the way the sun lights up flower pots on a windowsill. be alert for any sign of beauty or grace. offer up every joy, be aware at all moments, to the news that is always arriving out of silence.​

Pema Chödrön​

practice

in the beginning, mindfulness feels like another thing that must be done. it is an effortful doing (paying attention). with dedicated practice it becomes a habit. the only effort left is to bring the mind back to its object, or this very moment. and finally, when mindfulness has become strong, we no longer feel it as a doing. it is not something we do, but something we are. mindfulness is now effortless being. it does not mean that problems or painful emotions fall away. all of that remains within mindfulness. there is only this moment, rather than constant thoughts of yesterday and tomorrow. there is also a deep conviction that, if this moment is attended to mindfully, tomorrow is already taken care of.

very few men, properly speaking, live at present, but are providing to live another time.​

Jonathan Swift​​​​​